Show don’t tell is true in retail. Go to a Lush soap shop and you are given a wonderful sensory experience. Go to a good toy shop and you’re encouraged to play. Go to a good book shop and there are couches where you can sit and read.
Engaging with products is the best way to promote them. This is why I say have fun. The fun comes from you and your team enjoying what you sell, having with the products yourselves in the business.
There are many items in good Newsagency businesses today where we can have fun, even in the traditional products we sell.
- Put a newspaper on a small table with chairs for people to sit and do the crossword.
- Do the same with a crossword magazine.
- Start a Better Homes cooking club and invite customers to bring in a treat they made from a recipe in the magazine. This could be a fun monthly feature.
- Always have a sample of candy you sell.
- Have toys kids can play with.
- If you sell jigsaws have one out people can do.
- If you sell toys, have a particularly fun toy out and encourage kids to play.
My point here is engage with your products, move from being a shopkeeper to being an engaged retailer who embraces products in the shop for your fun and for the fun of your customers.
You will make more money by engaging with what you sell.